Machine for packaging pipe cleaners and the like



MACHINE FOR PACKAGING PIPE CLEANERS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 22. 1946 C.T. GOULD July 17, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet l July 17, 1951 C. T. GOULDMACHINE FOR PACKAGING PIPE CLEANERS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledOct. 22, 1946 w z ffwa C. T. GOULD July 17, 1951 MACHINE FOR PACKAGINGPIPE CLEANERS AND THE LIKE Filed 0013. 22, 1946 4 Sheets-$heet 5 July17, 1951 c. T. GOULD 2,561,271

MACHINE FOR PACKAGING PIPE CLEANERS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 22, 1946 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 17, 1951 MACHINE FORZPACKAGNGQPIPECLEANERSAND Y'IHE HIKE-11 Charles T; .Gould; Walpole, Ma ss., assignor to assand Jerome doing business as ApplicatiomOctobenZZelMfi, .Ser-iaLNn.704,901

6 -Glaifiis. 1

The object of thisin vention' is to 1 rovrde an efficient automaticmachine for'ra'pidl yand' a'c curately placing pipe cleanersQrbthersleriHBi elongated articles in containers;The'pipe'cleane'rs'h'ere referred to are of the farniliartypecoiisistingof two wires twisted together, between which" tufts offibers areconfined andise'ciirelyl held; The containers in whichthe'cleaners'iare'placed may be envelopes 'made v'15 paper or carj d board havingsubstantial stiffness'b'u't flexible enough to befbovved'irom a fiatcondition by application of a moderate degre'e'ofj'foi'oe'. suchenvelopes may be open at both ends, or atione" end only and closed'at"the" other end and','1in"any case, their front and rear walls"are'conn'ected' together at the'side' edges;

A further object is totrim groups" of pipe cleanerswhenthey have beenplacedin the' en-f' velop'es so'tha't all'niember's ofthegro'uh will be'o'f the "same length and 'correspondingendsnf all will be inthesam'eplane.

A" further object is'to provide means, for cair' ryingthepackages" awayfrom" the loadingpointto'a depository where they maybe" placed-inc'ases'for'shipment.

The salient features of the invention initspre' ferred forr'nnomprisea'm'agaz'ine in which empt'y envelopes or equivalent containers arestacked; a -feeder for removing the envelopes, oneby on'ei froi'nthe'bottomof the 'stack,---Ineans, of -Which thefee'dermaybe apart, forspreading out 'the' sides-of the envelopeafter removal from the' 'stackso a's t'o openthe receivingm'oiith ofthe' en'- velope sufficiently topermit easy-entrance 0f a bunch of pipe cleaners, means for advancing"si multaneously a bunched number ofpipe cleaner strips of indeterminatelength mto-=tne-operr mouth of anenvelope placed to receive them;meamuor cutting offthe cleaner stii'ps x iear the" receiving mouth ofthe envelope aften'they-mave been advanced to a prescribed distanceintothe envelope, means for displacing theenvelope Withits contents ofpipe cleaners from t-h'e filling pd sitiorrand at the same timepressingithe sides of the envelope together and moreor less'flatte'ningfio'ut .the' bunch of contained pipe -cleaners; and a\conveyer' to TWhiCh the packages of clean ers-are delivered by:thei-last named meanszand' by which they are carried to atflnaldepository;

Although the foregoing. statement:setsu-forth all of .the principalparts of the hereinafter de scribed embodiment 1 of the invention, itiistto be understood that the invention a is notilimited to thecombination of all of suchipa rtsy hut includes various apartialcombinations; orsubcombinatio'ns and modifications operative t'o placepipe cleaners and: similar articles. in envelopese or;,simi1ar:conminers;

It to be understood further that the" term pipe cleaner ,as" used" inthis specification is a descriptive term designating the materialope'rated on" by reference" to the characteristicsiiof' articles"commonly known by" that term and is not a" limitation of the inventionto J use conne'ction with goods which have? the character istics beforedescribed. Inits broader aspects the invention is applicable topackaging slender elongated articles of other descriptions" which arecapableflofv being ;p1ace'd"in envelopesor analogous holders for storage-andishipment.

In the accompanying drawings l have shown a; machine which embodies ,theprinciples :of this invention in their'pr'es'ently preferred forms; andtherein"- Fig; 1"is a side elevation'of the machine;

' Fig. 2 isa rear elevation,.as seen fromtheright' hand side offFjig. '1

Figs. 3; 4; Band 6' are" fragmentary sectional Views taken on lines t-3; 4'4; "5-5 and 8-6; respectively, of Fig. .2;

Fig. '8 is a sectional view on line 8'--8*' of Fig: Band Fig. "9' a"fragmentary elevation of so much of the machine as appears in'the'upper right hand part of'Fig.-2 as seen from in front of the machine;

lfiike reference'characters designate the same part's wherever'theyoccur in all thefigures;

"I"he"frameof"the machine supports a table Hl-and contains bearings inwhich horizontal s'haft'sl I, I2, 'l'3-'-and 1 4" are contained. Shaftl='- l -is*the"-main shaftand is driven by abelt [5 and pulley 16 from amotor or other'source of power;-not**h'ere shown. Shaft l 2 *is acamshaft and Supports -a--fa-c'e cam H anddisk carns-l;8; 19 20 -ahd 2 l'.-=It -isdriven fromshaft' lThy-a train of gears 22 "233-24 and- 25 l ofwhich the first'a-nd last are secured to the shafts ll and' 'l respemti'velv; and theintermediate gears 2'3 and are connected together andmount'ed on astud -shaft 262- -'-Shafts I3 and* l l' carry roll's' 2'!and 2 8,'res-pec'- tiv'eiy; which are in surface contactWitlr'oneanother; The shafts l3 and W are --coup'l'ed to'- gether by gears 29 and36 at one "end" at a-c'on'- siderable' distance from the rolls, and theend of shaft l' l nea re'st to --r'cll'-2-'8' and opposite to'the -endon -which gear- -3il -i'ssecured isc'ontanied in a beating box '31 whichoccupies avertical g-ui'de'- wayin the:frameworks-arid iscapableof-rising anti-descending; 'Th'is-permits -the upper-roll 28' to pressb'wgravity: on the lower r011 =2 and" on anything which'may be locatedbetween tha-rolls; andalso spermitsit to r is'ea fi1led pack'- asfi'sses through;

A pusher slide 32 is mounted in a guideway 33 in the top of the tableII] which extends in alinement with the nip of the rolls 2'! and 2B in adirection perpendicular to the common plane of the roll axes. A magazine34 is erected on the table over the slide 32 and has interior dimensionscon- I stituted and disposed to contain a pile of pipe cleaner envelopesa with their side edges parallel to the rolls. Such envelopes arecommonly made of stiff paper or cardboard with a length of '7 inches,more or less, and a width of 3 inches, more or less, and are open atboth ends and closed at both side edges. Or they may be closed at oneend.

This magazine is set back from the rolls a sufiicient distance to permitemergence of an envelope from its bottom far enough to provide a spacein which the later described suction devices can act on the envelopeafter its advancin side edge has encountered the nip of the rolls.Preferably the distance between the nip of the rolls and the nearerboundary of the magazine is approximately equal to the width ofenvelopes of the size which the magazine is adapted to contain, althoughit may be greater or slightly less.

The guideway 33 extends from the edge of the table nearest the rolls adistance great enough to permit backward movement of the pusher 32 untilits forward end is clear of the magazine, and advancing movement of thepusher far enough to bring an envelope against the nip of the rolls anda slight distance further. guideway and the pusher are preferably aswide as the length of the envelopes, or approximately so.

The pusher is moved back and forth by a lever 35 which is pivoted at itslower end to a bracket 31 on the frame and the upper of which enters aslot in the pusher.

This lever carries a roller 38 which bears on the circumference of thecam 23 and is held against the cam by a spring 39. This cam is suitablyformed to cause the pusher 32 to move back and forth rapidly through therange above described with each revolution of shaft l2 and to remainstationary through a large fraction of the cycle when in its position ofnearest approach to the rolls. Thus on each revolution of the cam shaft,the pusher is quickly withdrawn from the position in which it is shownin Figs. 1 and 4, far enough to permit descent of the pile of envelopesin the magazine 34 with placement of the lowest one of the pile in linewith the pusher; and is immediately thereafter quickly advanced to bringthe lowermost envelope to the nip of the rolls, which are stationary atthat time. Preferably the edge of the pusher which bears on the envelopeis provided with a lip 40 shown in Fig. 4, which overlies the adjacentedge of the envelope while propelling it, and after the advancing edgehas entered the open space between the rolls 21 and 28 and been arrestedby the contacting portions of the rolls. When so arrested, the advancingedge of the envelope is overlapped by the roll 28.

A suction cup 4| is mounted stationary in the table ill between themagazine and the axial plane of the rolls and located where it isoverlaid by the receiving end portion of the envelope a which is inreceiving position, (Figs. 4, 7 and 8) This cup is coupled by a pipeline 42 with a vacuum chamber 43 from which a pipe 44 leads to airexhausting means, not shown, which may be of any suitable character. Asecond suction cup 45 is located above the cup 4| in substantialalinement therewith and is mounted on the lower end of a tube 46 whichis held by a carrier 41 and is'coupled by a pipe 48 with the vacuumchamber 43. Carrier 41 in turn is mounted on a bar 49, which isreciprocable through table It and through guides 53 and 5| which extendabove and below the table (Fig. 5). The bar 49 is coupled at its lowerend by a pin and slot connection with a lever 52 pivoted to a bracket 53(suspended from the table or otherwise supported by the machine frame).This lever carries a cam follower roll 54 which is held by gravityagainst the circumference of the before mentioned cam 48, which is herecalled for convenience the suction cam.

A vent valve 55 is connected at a convenient point in the pipe line 48and is equipped with an operating arm 55 arranged to be engaged andmoved by a stud 5! on the carrier 41 when the latter is brought to theextreme upper limit of its rising movement from a point near said upperlimit. The movement then given to the valve arm 56 opens the valve andallows inflow of air This to the vacuum system, whereby the vacuum isbroken in the pipe 46 and cup 45. Arm 56 is arranged to close the ventvalve and cause it to remain closed at all times except when the carrieris at and near the upper limit of its movement. A constant vacuum ismaintained in the suction box 43.

The function of the cups 4| and 45 is to spread apart the sides of theenvelope which has been brought to the position a indicated in Fig. 4.Cam I8 therefore is formed with a low dwell b,

. a rise 0, a high dwell d, a short rise e, a second high dwell f, and adescent 9. These portions of the cam are angularly so related to thepusher 20 that the cup 45 is held elevated by the dwell while a filledpackage is removed and pusher 32 then advanced to bring an envelope tothe position a; the descending surface y then allows the cup 45 todescend and bear on the upper side of the envelope, the rise a thenlifts the cup 45 and draws with it the upper side of the envelope awayfrom the under side thereof, which is then held down by the stationarycup 4|. Dwell d occupies so much of the cycle as is required foradvancing cleaners into the envelope by means later described. So longas the parts g, b, c and d support the follower roll 54, the vent orbleeder valve 55 is closed and suction is exerted by cup 45 on theenvelope. The final rise e lifts the carrier 4? by an additional amountwhich is suificient to open the valve 55, whereby the vacuum in the cup45 is broken and the envelope is released therefrom. From this point onthe cycle is repeated.

Although the pusher 32, in continuing its move-, ment for a shortdistance after the envelope is arrested by the rolls 21, 28, causes thesides of the envelopes to be somewhat bowed, it does not necessarilybend all of them so that the sides are spread apart. Depending onwhether the sides of an envelope are perfectly flat, or more or lesswarped, the sides may be sprung apart, or both sides may be sprungeither downward or upward. But the suction cups, operated in the mannerdescribed, insure that the under side of the envelope will be held downand the upper side raised so as to open the receiving end Widely enoughto admit a bunch of the cleaners.

But the suction elements can be depended on alone to open the mouth ofthe envelope and the ferred that both agencies act in conjunction in themanner described, orderto give complete'assurance of opening thereceiving mouths of all the" envelopes wid'elyi enough. a a

Thepipe cleaner stock is provided instrips or strings of indeterminatelength," which 'may be' many feet or'yar'ds; A numberbf s'uch strips oistrings (as one dozen, more or 1es's; the number prescribeda's thecontents of' a given package); arewo'und' in parallel; and moreor'iess'bu'nenea fashion, on a spool or'reel, not here shewir'wmcn ismounted in convenient proximity 'to' the pack aging macmneandfromWhichthe strip sto'c klis led tothe machine. FigsQ'T, 8' ahd'9-s'h'ow'at'ha bunch" of cleaner strip'material passing betweenahd"throat are mounted stationary on the machine fram'with' thethrO'at'GO hear the receivingehd of theeiivelope'which is in loadingposition; and the guide 58 at a distance therefrom somewhatgreater thanthe prescribed length of the finishedcleaners. That'is, the spacebetween these members is long enough to permit travel of 4 the feeder 59in this space, back and forth-,- through a distance equal to theprescribed length of the cleaners. The feeder is provided with a fixedgripper 6'! at one side of the bunch of stock and a pivoted gripper 62at the other side of the bunch, the latter gripper being pressed by aspring estewaid the bunch. These grippers are preferably made as thinmetal plates having serrations on their free edges and inclinedconvergent- 1y. toward the throat 69. Similar grippers 64 and 65," thelatter being pressed upon by a spring,

are mounted on the fixed guide58 to prevent the' bunch of stock frombeing pushed back when the feeder withdraws between successive feeding:

strokes.

The throat has a tapered passageway of which the'small'er endis next tothe receiving envelope and alined therewith, having a-- height and--width less than those of the open mouth of the envelope. A knife 61 isguided to reciprocateclose against the surface of the throat memberfieand across the delivering orifice thereof so as to cut-- off thecleaners after they-have been advanced into the envelope.

. The feeder 59 thus described is'mountedona- .slide or carrier 68;which is mounted to reciprocate on a guide 69- securedto the front sideof the;

table [9 in parallel with the alinement of guide 58'; throat 60- andreceiving envelope. connected by a link it with a lever ll Which-ispivoted'at 12 (Fig. 2') to a'bracket 13"on;the-

machine frame and carries a follower roll 14 engaging the operating endface of cam H. A spring 15, connected to lever H and an anchorage on theframe, holds the foll'ower 14 against the cam. The axially offsetoperating face of cam H i s-angularly related to the cams 29 and I8 soas to cause re traction of the feeder while the envelope is beingplaced'in 'rec'eivihg position and opened, and

advance of the feeder while the envelope is'sta feeder'reaches the endof""itsfeeding strokeand before "theloaded'pa'ckag'e is "removed. Itisother- This slide is wise formed to retain th knife in its-retractedpositioiiddring alfthejrest'ofthe'cycle.

It maybe remarked at this pbiht that, altfidiigh theleve'r52 has beendescribed previeiisiy as'riei'd' against 'itsbperating cainls' y itsweight aiiii" that Of the p'a'rfs iWhich it operate I may apply to itaspring', such as 'the'sprihg 18 t'impart a more rapid downwardmovement-to these elements "thafiis caused by" grew-c9 hone; ifdesired.-.

The'rolls' 2'7 and 28 are intermittently: rotated to removefindenvelepesrrem receiving 'pfs'imm. For rotating them; a ratchet!!!1mg; 3);'is Itibiifi d"0fi Shaft I3 "adjacefit l'bll' 2] ailda" pawl "89is' mbiihtd 'Ofi a"paWl carrier-181 and is springf'pressed' to engagethe" ratchet. pawl car ri'ei a: isnibuhted to" rqtat j' about shaft I 3andis connected byf alink82 'with a lever 8 3 pivote at 84bilafiiied'biackefiifi. Ajfor'ked link'BGi nected by a pivot 81 'to} lever"83 and hasfj of parallel arms which embrace'the' cam shaft I21 The 'linkflfi' carries a --ro11owe1'- roll 88 *w'hicli" held in contact-with thecircumference of cam 2| by a spring 89 connected-with-lever 83 and witha? fixed "anchorage on -the-frame.-- The major part of cam 2| isconcentricwith shaft l Zand it has rapidly descending surface "9ll 'andrapidly "rising" surface'9l which merge withemanate-er closetd the hubof the cam; Whenthe descending surface 90 passes the follower roll;thepaw'l is caused to slip idly over the ratchet, and the rising' surface causes the pawl torotatethe ratchet and the feed rol-ls (roll 28being rotated by the gear-pai-n 29 3ll) sufficiently far to propel thefilled package between and clear-of the rolls. The-camsur face 91 issuitably locatedto effect this propelling action after the pipe cleanerstrips-have beenplaced-inthe envelope and cut off, and-before the pusher3 2 has brought another envelope into the charging-location. V

A- conveyer belt: 92 is supp rtedby-rolls 93 and; 94 (Fig. 1) with itsupper stretch extending hori-L zontallyand in position to receivepackages delivered by the feed rolls.- It is advanced step by; step. intime with the; feed 'rolls' by a pawl 95-: acting: on a ratchet 96connectedwiththe-roll- 93. The carrier91 of pawl 95 is pivoted to'oneend. of alink 98, the opposit nd-of which-is coupled by a pin and slotconnection 99 with lever 83,. at a point nearerto the fulcrum thereofthan the point at which link 82- is connected; Thus the lever 83advances theconveyerbelt at the same time that it propels thefeedrolls,; b utthrough a shorter distance. Thus the filled; packages aredeposited onthe conveyor withoverlaps. They are eventually dischargedfrom; the conveye'r into a receptacle of any kind desi red.-

It will beac'parent frorhtlieforeg'oin'g that the machine 'is entirelyeutematiem respect to placf ing "containers 'inreceivih'g" position,loading" the containers with the materialtd bepacka'g'edl' cutting.offth'e material in" pieces of prescribed leiigth and"de1'ivering thefilled 'p'ackag'e's we finarreeeiver: The only service reduiredof'anattefidant'isto replenish the supply'of efive1ocee"-' ir'ithe''ma'g'azi'ne' 34 from tinie tdti'me' ands 4 sti'tute" new'quahtities of"the material as" be" pl'aee'difithe' envelopes.

Evideh'tly goods other than the specific pipe cleaners herein describedcan be paekedtnen velope's" or other analogous holders" by" the ma:chine'h'ere illustrated" and other machines 'c taming thei same"principles but" of possibly different "des'ighs'i a it is within mycontemplation to provide ad justments and/ or substitute parts by whichone machine can be adapted for packaging pieces of various lengths,singly or in any desired number's, in containers of various dimensionsand types, all within the scope of the protection afforded by theappended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A machine for packing elongated articles comprising a supportingstructure, a magazine thereon adapted to hold a stack of open-ended fiatcontainers having flexible sides and resting on the supportingstructure, a pusher movable on the supporting structure from one side ofthe magazine to the other side across the bottom thereof in a pathtransverse to the length of the containers for removing the bottomcontainer therein and lacing such container in a receiving position,suction cups disposed above and below such position, means for movingone of such cups toward and away from the other to engage the sides ofthe container and draw them apart so as to open the mouth thereof, afeeder mounted on the supporting structure to reciprocate in a pathalined with said receiving position and the length dimension of thecontainer toward and away from the mouth of a container in suchposition, and means for reciprocating said feeder in timed relation withthe actions of said pusher and container-opening means so that thefeeder is advanced when a container is in the receiving position withits mouth open.

2. A machine for packing elongated articles comprising a supportingstructure, a magazine thereon adapted to hold a stack of open-ended flatcontainers having flexible sides, a pusher movable on the supportingstructure from one side of the magazine to the other side across thebottom thereof for removing the bottom container therein and placingsuch container in a receiving position beside the magazine, normallystationary feed rolls located at the far side of such receiving positionfrom the magazine and so arranged that the advancing boundary of thedisplaced container is brought to the nip of the rolls by the pusher, afeeder movable in a path parallel with the axes of said rolls and alinedwith said receiving position toward and away from the location occupiedby the mouth of a. container when in receiving position for placing insuch container the material to be packed therein, and actuating meansfor respectively reciprocating the pusher, reciprocating the feeder, andintermittently rotating said rolls in the above named sequence.

3. A packaging machine of the character described, comprising asupporting structure, a magazine on said structure adapted to hold astack of open mouthed substantially flat containers having flexiblewalls, a pusher guided to move across the bottom of said magazine from adisplaced position at one side thereof in a path which is transverse tothe length dimension and side edges of the containers in the magazine, apair of normally stationary delivery rolls arranged at the far side ofthe magazine from the pusher with their nipping portions in substantialalinement with the path of the pusher, means for reciprocating thepusher in the before named path, whereby it is caused to displace acontainer from the magazine and bring such container into the spacebetween the magazine and rolls with its advanced side edge natal at thenip of the rolls, a feeder movable in a path transverse to that of thepusher and located in substantial alinement with the space occupied by acontainer when displaced from the magazine by the pusher, and with thelength of such container, means for reciprocating the feeder between apoint near the mouth of such a displaced container and a second positionfarther removed from such mouth, whereby to bring material into thecontainer, and means for intermittently rotating said rolls in adirection to cause them to remove filled containers from their receivingposition.

4. The packaging machine set forth in claim 3, combined with a trimmerlocated adjacent to the mouth of a container in receiving position, andmeans for operating said trimmer to cut off the material placed in suchcontainer by the feeder.

5. A packaging machine comprising a supporting structure, a magazine onsaid structure rising from the table adapted to hold a stack offlexible-walled open-ended envelopes resting on the table, a pushermounted to reciprocate on the supporting structure beneath the magazinefrom a withdrawn position at one side of the magazine to the other sidethereof in a path which enables it to remove an envelope from the stackin the magazine, suction cups arranged above and below the location towhich envelopes are brought by said pusher in its propelling movementsin positions enabling them to engage and apply suction to the outersurfaces of opposite sides of the envelope, means for withdrawing one ofsaid cups from the other so as to spring the sides of the envelope apartand open the mouth thereof, guides arranged to hold elongated slenderarticles in alinement with the envelope displaced by said pusher, afeeder for such articles located between said guides, and means forreciprocating said feeder in alinement with the guides.

6. A packaging machine comprising a support adapted to hold anopen-ended container in a receiving position, guides disposed to holdstrip material of indeterminate length in alinement with the mouth ofsuch a container, a feeder movable back and forth between said guides inalinement with them and having means arranged to grasp the material whenthe feeder is moving toward that guide which is nearest to thecontainer, and a trimmer between the container and nearer guide forcutting off the material which has been placed in the container.

CHARLES T. GOULD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 883,803 Herz Apr. '7, 19081,437,410 Evans et al. Dec. 5, 1922 1,589,800 Frank June 22, 19261,892,148 Hohl Dec. 27, 1932 1,932,052 Stocks Oct. 29, 1933 1,991,223Ledig et a1. Feb. 12, 1935 2,171,572 Kelley Sept. 5, 1939 v 2,336,213Bayor et al. Dec. '7, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 343,589Great Britain Feb. 23, 1931 389,699 Great Britain Mar. 23, 1933

